This past Monday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, my partner and I headed into Park Slope to have brunch at our favorite restaurant, Miracle Grill. Since moving to Bay Ridge last year we don’t spend too much time in the Slope, so Miracle is always a treat for us – the place we go for a special occasion such as a birthday, a family member’s visit to Brooklyn, or in this case, a holiday weekend brunch. I was particularly looking forward to the dish I always get – poached eggs over cornbread with chipotle hollandaise sauce, black beans and either grits or home fries (sometimes both!) on the side. We’ll also usually split the yellow corn pancakes or the Miracle Quesadilla – both out of this world dishes. Incomparable.
To our shock, Miracle was closed. It was already past noon, so we knew we weren’t too early for brunch and reasoned that it must not be serving brunch that day. Strange. We said to each other: “Could they have closed permanently?” but quickly dismissed it. That would be impossible – the place is always packed.

We ended up at Dizzy’s Diner, which has a delicious brunch menu as well – but let’s face it, it’s no Miracle Grill.

Then yesterday I was looking on Yelp and, lo and behold, saw that Miracle Grill had indeed closed down. Shock. Dismay. Impossible! This restaurant had one of the best, most unique menus in Brooklyn, if not all of New York City. But as the latest review on Yelp said, “BOOM!”

In 2008, 2nd Street Cafe – a stalwart of the neighborhood and one of the many reasons I moved to Park Slope 9 years ago – also closed. They had the best mango-banana pancakes you will ever find – anywhere. And now Miracle Grill. So I reach out to my fellow Brooklynites to find out – what happened? Was the cost of renting on 7th Avenue just too high in the recession? Was there another factor? I admit that I only sampled the regular menu once or twice, so perhaps brunch alone couldn’t sustain it. If anyone has inside information, please shed light on how such a wonderful establishment could be taken from us. I know I will certainly miss Miracle Grill, and hope the owners will find another location and re-open soon.